Pre- mobiles and internet time, question for those who knew it

[Blue Hills]

I took a grand total of 36 Kodachrome slide photos on the whole trip. Hosing your friends down with the tedious small details of your life had yet to become fashionable.

take a bow slowmotion - doubtless stuff about your great trip would come out later in conversations. If folk were interested. And if they weren't, fine/sod 'em.

 

[Blue Hills]

I think social arrangements were much simpler pre-mobiles. My Friday night as a sixth former would involve going to the pub where sixth formers went and inevitably meeting some people I knew from a rotating cast. It's what we all did/ I miss the simplicity of those days, but a lot of the simplicity I expect came from being 18 and being able to go to the pub on Friday night knowing I had nothing important to get up for in the morning.

Very definitely - and the odd person who knows me face to face will know that I have a certain beef about "arrangements" on places like cc that witter on for page after page. And then sometimes don't even happen because someone has looked at the online weather forecast once too often.

 

[marinyork]

Very definitely - and the odd person who knows me face to face will know that I have a certain beef about "arrangements" on places like cc that witter on for page after page. And then sometimes don't even happen because someone has looked at the online weather forecast once too often.

My mum is exactly like that and she cannot use a computer at all and cannot text on a mobile.

She has anxiety.

Still I guess in her case you can blame the frequency of tv weather forecasts these days.

 

[ColinJ]

Does anyone still use a typewriter?

Will Self does. There must be lots of others.

I was a student in the mid-1980s. I used to write long letters to people but pretty much stopped after I graduated. The last letters that I wrote were to my dying father in the early 2000s. The final letter that I wrote to him was what I based THIS POST on. He was too weak to read it himself so my sister read it to him over several visiting times. She said that he enjoyed it.

It is strange being part of a transition generation. Before us - jobs for life, no internet, no television, no personal computers, not much foreign travel, few phones (landlines that is - mobiles didn't exist!) or family cars ... There have been huge changes in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and, er, 00s, and now into the 10s. Change is only going to get deeper and faster and humans are not really optimised for that.

Some of the changes have been great, some not so good. It is very useful being able to communicate more easily but the expectation that one should be always contactable is totally alien to me. I sometimes don't bother carrying my phone around with me and don't feel any obligation to do so, expect when I have arrangements with other people, but that angers some people. I would always have my phone handy on the morning of a forum ride or any other time when I am due to meet people, but I reserve the right to be unreachable at other times. If someone I love dies or falls ill and I don't find out for a while, tough - that is how life always was, and still is for many. My sister waited until the next morning to tell me that our dad had died. I didn't need to know at 03:17, or whatever time it was.

I am worried about what the technology will bring in the future. I studied 1984 for my English Lit O-level in the early 1970s. At the time, Big Brother and the telescreens seemed unlikely but here we are with a lot of that surveillance in our lives already, and it is only going to get worse.

Who would have suspected that one day every phone call would be monitored by machines capable of checking what one was saying? Or cameras in almost every public place connected to facial recognition software? I watched a talk on TED where someone was identified there and then by software which trawled the internet for their photo, located it on Facebook, and within seconds had come up with their name, address, US social security number, a list of their friends and so on. Big Brother is not only watching you, 'he' is recording what 'he' sees and is able to cross-reference that with where you go, who you communicate with, what you read, who your friends are and so on ... I call that damn scary!

And to the computers monitoring this, I say - the nukes are hidden with the nerve gas in the secret store where the stolen guns are stashed ready for ISIS to grab them and launch attacks on President Trump!

To the American security guys reading the alerts popped up by the computers by the previous paragraph - that was a JOKE!

To the British security guys reading the alerts popped up by the computers by the worrisome paragraph - could you please convince your US counterparts that it was a JOKE - I really don't want my door breaking down in the middle of the night by masked men holding machine guns!

 

[marinyork]

Humans are optimised for change. It is systems that humans construct that often aren't.

 

[swee'pea99]

Have liked your post but while I read through everything just to say what a great open-minded thread start. And confirms one of the best things about cyclechat - its healthy spread of ages.

What's healthy about it? There's a light sprinkling of da yoot, but the vast majority of us are knock knock knocking on heaven's door. I'm 97, and I consider myself one of the youngsters.

 

[ColinJ]

Humans are optimised for change. It is systems that humans construct that often aren't.

I didn't say that we aren't - it is the speed and extent of the changes that is alarming. Okay, humans are driving those changes forward but we have not exactly sat down as a species and considered whether all of this is a good idea! There is an inevitability about where this going and it isn't looking good ...

 

[swee'pea99]

Will Self does. There must be lots of others.

I was a student in the mid-1980s. I used to write long letters to people but pretty much stopped after I graduated. The last letters that I wrote were to my dying father in the early 2000s. The final letter that I wrote to him was what I based THIS POST on. He was too weak to read it himself so my sister read it to him over several visiting times. She said that he enjoyed it.

It is strange being part of a transition generation. Before us - jobs for life, no internet, no television, no personal computers, not much foreign travel, few phones (landlines that is - mobiles didn't exist!) or family cars ... There have been huge changes in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and, er, 00s, and now into the 10s. Change is only going to get deeper and faster and humans are not really optimised for that.

Some of the changes have been great, some not so good. It is very useful being able to communicate more easily but the expectation that one should be always contactable is totally alien to me. I sometimes don't bother carrying my phone around with me and don't feel any obligation to do so, expect when I have arrangements with other people, but that angers some people. I would always have my phone handy on the morning of a forum ride or any other time when I am due to meet people, but I reserve the right to be unreachable at other times. If someone I love dies or falls ill and I don't find out for a while, tough - that is how life always was, and still is for many. My sister waited until the next morning to tell me that our dad had died. I didn't need to know at 03:17, or whatever time it was.

I am worried about what the technology will bring in the future. I studied 1984 for my English Lit O-level in the early 1970s. At the time, Big Brother and the telescreens seemed unlikely but here we are with a lot of that surveillance in our lives already, and it is only going to get worse.

Who would have suspected that one day every phone call would be monitored by machines capable of checking what one was saying? Or cameras in almost every public place connected to facial recognition software? I watched a talk on TED where someone was identified there and then by software which trawled the internet for their photo, located it on Facebook, and within seconds had come up with their name, address, US social security number, a list of their friends and so on. Big Brother is not only watching you, 'he' is recording what 'he' sees and is able to cross-reference that with where you go, who you communicate with, what you read, who your friends are and so on ... I call that damn scary!

And to the computers monitoring this, I say - the nukes are hidden with the nerve gas in the secret store where the stolen guns are stashed ready for ISIS to grab them and launch attacks on President Trump!

To the American security guys reading the alerts popped up by the computers by the previous paragraph - that was a JOKE!

To the British security guys reading the alerts popped up by the computers by the worrisome paragraph - could you please convince your US counterparts that it was a JOKE - I really don't want my door breaking down in the middle of the night by masked men holding machine guns!

Bye Colin...it was nice knowing you.

 

[ColinJ]

Bye Colin...it was nice knowing you.

If I don't post in the next few days, feel free to start the "ColinJ is INNOCENT!" campaign ...

 

[classic33]

Will Self does. There must be lots of others.

I was a student in the mid-1980s. I used to write long letters to people but pretty much stopped after I graduated. The last letters that I wrote were to my dying father in the early 2000s. The final letter that I wrote to him was what I based THIS POST on. He was too weak to read it himself so my sister read it to him over several visiting times. She said that he enjoyed it.

It is strange being part of a transition generation. Before us - jobs for life, no internet, no television, no personal computers, not much foreign travel, few phones (landlines that is - mobiles didn't exist!) or family cars ... There have been huge changes in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and, er, 00s, and now into the 10s. Change is only going to get deeper and faster and humans are not really optimised for that.

Some of the changes have been great, some not so good. It is very useful being able to communicate more easily but the expectation that one should be always contactable is totally alien to me. I sometimes don't bother carrying my phone around with me and don't feel any obligation to do so, expect when I have arrangements with other people, but that angers some people. I would always have my phone handy on the morning of a forum ride or any other time when I am due to meet people, but I reserve the right to be unreachable at other times. If someone I love dies or falls ill and I don't find out for a while, tough - that is how life always was, and still is for many. My sister waited until the next morning to tell me that our dad had died. I didn't need to know at 03:17, or whatever time it was.

I am worried about what the technology will bring in the future. I studied 1984 for my English Lit O-level in the early 1970s. At the time, Big Brother and the telescreens seemed unlikely but here we are with a lot of that surveillance in our lives already, and it is only going to get worse.

Who would have suspected that one day every phone call would be monitored by machines capable of checking what one was saying? Or cameras in almost every public place connected to facial recognition software? I watched a talk on TED where someone was identified there and then by software which trawled the internet for their photo, located it on Facebook, and within seconds had come up with their name, address, US social security number, a list of their friends and so on. Big Brother is not only watching you, 'he' is recording what 'he' sees and is able to cross-reference that with where you go, who you communicate with, what you read, who your friends are and so on ... I call that damn scary!

And to the computers monitoring this, I say - the nukes are hidden with the nerve gas in the secret store where the stolen guns are stashed ready for ISIS to grab them and launch attacks on President Trump!

To the American security guys reading the alerts popped up by the computers by the previous paragraph - that was a JOKE!

To the British security guys reading the alerts popped up by the computers by the worrisome paragraph - could you please convince your US counterparts that it was a JOKE - I really don't want my door breaking down in the middle of the night by masked men holding machine guns!

You realise that they'll be on the way now.

All they need is someone able to pronounce the old placenames correctly, and understand the locals.

 

[ColinJ]

You realise that they'll be on the way now.

All they need is someone able to pronounce the old placenames correctly, and understand the locals.

Try to get Trump to change his mind about the waterboarding before I reach the dungeon!

 

[Drago]

If I don't post in the next few days, feel free to start the "ColinJ is INNOCENT!" campaign ...

I once had an 'Arthur Fowler is Innocent' sticker on me car.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Try to get Trump to change his mind about the waterboarding before I reach the dungeon!

I've been told he's going with Gen. Mattis' position that such techniques are counterproductive. They are. You can learn a lot more simply by observation, and knowledge of personality types and their reactions.

 

[ColinJ]

I've been told he's going with Gen. Mattis' position that such techniques are counterproductive. They are. You can learn a lot more simply by observation, and knowledge of personality types and their reactions.

It is scary that someone in his position could think that it is perfectly ok to say that torture is a good idea. He uses his mouth before engaging his brain. Mind you, I'm not sure that engaging his brain would actually help that much ...

 

[Drago]

The media have confused me. A month ago 'Mad Dog' was a war mongering loon who will have WWIII started nicely first chance he got, and suddenly he's now the voice of reason instead.